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Machine Quilting
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Art Quilts

What does the terms " sewing appliques " mean to you? Do you think of hand applique? Machine applique? The applique stitch? An example of raw-edge applique by Jane LaFazio. There are many types of applique, from the traditional by-hand techniques to the fused or raw-edge applique methods preferred...

A Note from Vivika: Our online editor, Cate Prato, has recently delved into traditional quilting techniques including adventures in binding. I asked her to share her experience with you . When it comes to quilt finishing , I've always resorted to an easy quilt binding like the pillowcase method....

My favorite work day is Tuesday, because that's when our office holds show-and-tell. Given the array of quilters, sewists, and mixed-media artists in our group (many of whom also knit, crochet, and make jewelry), you never know what to expect. Managing editor Rose deBoer (L) and Assistant editor...

Looking back over the last 12 months, I'd have to say that portraiture was a big trend in modern and creative quilting . From pixel quilts made of tiny fabric squares to mixed-media quilts that enhanced fabric with paint or colored pencil, quilt artists made a lot of faces. Judging by what I've...

Where do you get your inspiration for art quilts ? Quilting artists get asked that question all the time. Most artists I know have keen powers of observation. They take in the patterns of bricks and grids in the city, the shapes and colors of the garden, and the unusual (to them) motifs and architecture...

A note from Vivika: Most art quilters I know dabble in other forms of art--from painting to jewelry making. Our marketing manager, Ashley Lauwereins, is a jewelry maker who is learning about fabric art . Today, she's taking over the blog to share her experiences with art that crosses over both worlds...

Sometimes, machine quilting takes a back seat to color, fabric, and surface design on a quilt. Other times, free-motion quilting is the star. Think spring: Mini quilt with free-motion machine sketching techniques, by Candy Glendening. Even simple quilting motifs can pack a punch when they stand alone...

A fabric stabilizer doesn't look like much in the package or on the bolt. But it can literally become the supporting role in your most complex or ethereal fiber art adventures. You can, use stabilizer for embroidery, for shoring up delicate fabrics for stitching, and even use fabric interfacing as...

Have you taken any photos lately and thought, "That would make a great quilt"? Karen Fricke used thread sketching and ink to create this bee quilt, based on a photograph. If you want use a photo as inspiration for a fiber art piece but don't want to appliqué or piece the image, try...

Quilting embellishments for art quilts run the gamut from beading and embroidery first popularized when crazy quilting began in the Victorian era, to metal pieces, found objects, and even lighting. In fact, today's contemporary fiber artists who experiment with unusual quilt embellishments incorporate...

It's summer here, and if you're lucky enough to live near the ocean, you can find plenty of artistic inspiration from the landscape, the wildlife, and the found objects. Felted shells embellish plain cards. Art by Deborah Wolff. Shells hold a particular fascination for many fiber and mixed-media...

So often when we approach a quilting project, we focus on the fabric. But thread art --from the color choice to the free-motion quilting or thread sketching--is also a key design element. Award-winning art quilter Susan Brubaker Knapp is a master at using threadwork to bring her fiber art to life. Just...

The sewing needle is the fiber artist's pencil: you're simply drawing with thread. When you hand stitch, you can guide the direction of the thread to make a design. And when you lower the feed dogs on your sewing machine, you can stitch in any direction, too. In The Art of Thread Sketching: Free...